Marble restaurant: acoustics raise the bar on restaurants

Marble Restaurant is one of Johannesburg’s most sought-after dining destinations. Saint-Gobain Ecophon ceilings tiles have been installed to enhance acoustics.

The Marble restaurant is co-owned by celebrated South African chef, David Higgs, and architect and businessman Gary Kyriacou.

“When we designed the restaurant, we were very clear that the spectacle of the open kitchen with its impressive grill had to be central to the Marble experience. At the same time, however, the noise from the kitchen could not spill over into the rest of the restaurant" says Dino Constantinou, operations manager at the Marble restaurant.

Apart from the first-rate location and food legend who co-owns it, the Marble drawcard is its grand wood-fired grill. It is the focal point of the restaurant.

The international trend of open-fire cooking in restaurants has found its way to South Africa, bringing with it, the spectacle of an open kitchen and the attendant practical challenges.

Restaurant kitchens are not quiet spaces. In the heat of service, noise levels soar.

According to Harold Webb, Sales manager at Ecophon, sound pressure levels in restaurants are difficult to control. At Marble, the open-fire grill added to the challenge.

When all the action takes place in full view, a restaurant needs all the technology it can get to manage the acoustics.

The owners’ requirement of an aesthetically pleasing solution was met with the installation of Ecophon’s concealed grid system using Focus Ds 1200x600 ceiling tiles in:

the area around the kitchen

the area around the bar

in the alcoves designated for private dining

“I knew we had hit the nail on the head when David Higgs said to me that on the launch evening, when the restaurant was packed, he could see people having conversations without shouting at each other, despite the music, the grill and the bar,” concludes Harold Webb, Saint-Gobain Ecophon.

SAINT-GOBAIN SOLUTIONS:

Saint-Gobain, the world leader in the habitat and construction markets, designs, manufactures and distributes building and high-performance materials, providing innovative solutions to the challenges of growth, energy efficiency and environmental protection.